Virgin Galactic

Richard Branson, the founder and largest shareholder of suborbital spaceflight company Virgin Galactic, will sell more than a fifth of Virgin Group’s majority stake in the company to raise funds to aid its other companies affected by the pandemic.

Virgin Galactic executives said May 5 that the suborbital spaceflight company has taken measures to resume regular operations during the coronavirus pandemic, but said they didn’t yet know its overall impact on the business.

With SpaceShipTwo and Blue Origin’s New Shepard set to begin commercial service as soon as late this year, the focus has been on those vehicles carrying space tourists. But some believe that those vehicles are also ideal for research missions.

Virgin Galactic executives suggested Feb. 25 that the beginning of commercial flights of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle might slip again, even as the company starts planning to resume ticket sales.

Virgin Galactic is making progress in the development of its next SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane, although the company is saying little about when its existing SpaceShipTwo will be ready to resume test flights.

Nearly a month after Virgin Galactic’s debut on public markets, the investment community is largely taking a wait-and-see approach to whether it will be a model for other space companies seeking to go public.

Shares in suborbital spaceflight company Virgin Galactic were flat in their first day of trading as company leadership says that they will retain a long-term mindset despite now being a public company.

Virgin Galactic’s merger with a publicly-traded investment company is likely a one-off event based on the company and people involved, and not a sign of more fundamental changes in the industry, investors argue.

Virgin Galactic announced July 9 it had reached an agreement to merge with a public investment vehicle, raising several hundred million dollars of capital and allowing the company to become publicly traded.